Piper Sandler Upgrades Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) to Overweight

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) was upgraded by analysts at Piper Sandler from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $35.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $38.00. Piper Sandler’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 26.80% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.06.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock opened at $27.60 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.01. Bath & Body Works has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $52.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.73, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $109,797,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,572,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 79.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,882,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715,096 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,768,000 after buying an additional 1,360,264 shares during the period. Finally, Anomaly Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP now owns 4,860,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,456,000 after buying an additional 1,346,752 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a specialty retailers and home to America’s Favorite Fragrances, offering a breadth of exclusive fragrances for the body and home, including the selling collections for fine fragrance mist, body lotion and body cream, 3-wick candles, home fragrance diffusers and liquid hand soap.